Blizzard on Duplicate Crafting Plans and the Spectral Hound

A couple of Blue infos worth stressing today. First up is the removal of duplicate crafting plan drops. I mentioned it in yesterday’s big patch review, and today a Blue confirmed it.

I haven’t heard of anyone getting a duplicate plan drop for a while now. Was a fix put in place to prevent that?

…It seems to be the same way for legendary and jewelry plans. I haven’t seen any jewelry plans since I learned all the recipes.

Nevalistis: Once you learn a Legendary crafting pattern, it should no longer drop for you. =)

This is only logical with the binding on plans. Since you can’t sell or trade or give them away, there’s no reason you’d ever want to find a duplicate. I see two problems. 1) Once you’ve found them all you’ll never find another crafting plan, which will be kind of boring? 1.5) How about duplicate plans can be salvaged into the legendary material that plan requires? 2) I wish plans were tradeable to people in the game when you find them, as legendary items are.

Elsewhere, a fan points out that the RoS:CE in-game prize, the Spectral Hound, is less of a puppy than it was in the initial iteration.

The tiny first iteration.

Thank you for making Spectral Hound bigger! Did the latest patch make it bigger? Nevalistis: He did, indeed, have a bit of a growth spurt in the last patch. He’s been eating his Nephalem, err, I mean, kibble. Yes. Kibble.

We posted some screens of the doggy a few weeks ago when it first appeared on the PTR. (Players who have already purchased the digital edition of the RoS:CE have their accounts already flagged for the prize.) I haven’t seen it in the new patch, though. Those of you who have it on your accounts… howzit? Bigger? More hound than puppy? A worthy steed for your travel companion?

Comments

I like your idea of salvaging duplicate plans into their unique mat, Flux.

There was a thread somewhere, in which Monstrous proposed the idea of each duplicate plan you find improving the stat ranges that can roll on crafted legs/sets, or the enchantments that can be added to it through the Mystic.

Especially since crafted legs/sets are stop-gap gear, the idea of being able to upgrade them over time is appealing. Right now, they’re really nowhere near as good as found-only sets and legs – but being able to upgrade them would make them more useful until the RNG gods bless you with something cooler.

You make a good point. I was thinking that, since we’ll eventually learn all the crafted set and legendary plans, upgrading existing ones would give us something to work on until we’re decked out in found-only sets and legs.

It seems to me that crafted leg and set plans definitely need a buff over what they have been up until this point, so that’s another reason to let us buff them.

Why not have duplicate plans permanently reduce the mats required to make future items? That way each one made is still as good in terms of potential, but after a while you’ll be able to make more of them for less and thus get a better ‘chance’ at a better roll.